Under the Mistletoe
by I Like Writing Romance
Summary: "Shun glanced up and thought three words he'd been sure he'd never think: 'Thank you, mistletoe.'" A Christmas fic, enjoy.


**IT'S CHRIMSTAS OFFICIALLY! MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!**

**Well, it's Christmas here is Oz, anyway! XD**

**Hi again, Bakugan fans. Some of you may remember me from a **_**long**_** time back. This is a Shun/Alice fic I've been working on for a while now, and I have been saving it for now.**

**I apologize in advance for any errors I missed, and I also apologize if some parts seem a boring. They are necessary though, to establish things. And sorry for the cliché title.**

**This is probably gonna be my last Bakugan one for a while now. But if I get inspiration I will do more! If you want…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan, obviously.**

"I don't like parties."

"You _what_?" Sixteen-year-old Daniel Kuso, known as Dan to his friends, stared with wide maroon eyes at his best friend as though he'd just said he'd committed murder.

Seventeen-year-old Shun Kazami sighed in irritation, closing his topaz eyes. "I don't like parties."

Dan said nothing. He just stared, stupefied.

"DANIEL KUSO!" Fifteen-year-old Runo Misaki stormed into the room, steam practically coming out of her ears. Dan cringed, and Shun sighed again in annoyance. What had his pathetic best friend done to the violent girl now?

"WHERE'S MY DIARY?" the blunette screamed. "IF YOU DON'T GIVE IT BACK, I SWEAR, I'LL KILL YOU! THEN YOU WON'T BE _ABLE_ TO HOLD A CHRISTMAS PARTY!"

It was almost Christmas. Dan was planning to hold a party, just for the six original Brawlers. Even Alice, who lived in Russia, was coming. Marucho had planned to send Kato to pick her up on the morning of Christmas Eve.

"I don't have it Runo, seriously!" Dan began to back away, very aware of the frying pan in his girlfriend's hand.

"You'd better not, jerk, or I'll—" Runo was interrupted in her threatening tirade by another voice trilling, "Hey Runo?"

Sixteen-year-old Julie Makimoto stood in the doorway; she was apparently engrossed in a small purple book. She looked up, curiosity in her blue-grey orbs. "Who's Mr. Jiggles?"

"JULIE! IT WAS YOU!" Runo whipped around, boring holes into Julie with flames in her blue-green eyes.

Fourteen-year-old Choji Marukuro, known as Marucho to his friends, squeezed past the now whimpering and cowering silver-haired African girl, straightening his glasses and rolling his blue eyes, saying, "I'd run if I were you, Julie."

"YOU'RE DEAD, JULIE!" Runo screeched. She rushed at the frozen Subterra Brawler, frying pan raised, but a person stepped past Julie, into the room, a knowing smile on her face. Runo stopped dead in her tracks, and everyone stared in shock, their mouths falling open.

It couldn't be…

Could it?

Julie was the first to recover. "O-M-G, Alice, you're, like, here!" She embraced her friend from behind.

Seventeen-year-old Alice Gehabich laughed as Julie released her. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with faint amusement as she looked around at her four other gawping friends. "Are you just going to stare at me all day?"

Dan and Marucho came forward, each giving Alice and awkward hug.

There was a bang as the frying pan dropped out of the blunette's hand, falling to the carpet. The Haos Brawler rushed forward, tears of joy cascading down her cheeks as she threw her arms around the girl who was her best friend, and like a sister to her, hugging her tightly. The Darkus Brawler hugged Runo back, smiling, with tears in her eyes too.

When Runo let go, Alice turned to Shun, her smile still on her face. "Hi Shun." She didn't attempt to hug him. She knew he wasn't a social person, and didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

Shun, realizing this, smirked. Stepping forward, he put his arms around the Russian girl in a light embrace. Alice, surprised, returned the hug just as gently.

"You guys are, like, totally made for each other." Julie squealed as they released each other.

"Shut up, Julie." Shun growled, stomping away to sit back down. He picked up the book now that he had been reading before Dan had started nagging him about coming to the Christmas party.

"Someone's touchy!" Dan sang, prancing around to his friend. Shun merely scowled.

"Oh no!" Alice suddenly exclaimed, horrified, slapping a hand to her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Runo asked in concern.

Alice turned to face her, looking worried. "I just realized that I forgot to check if there was somewhere I could stay!"

"Oh…" Julie trailed off, looking uneasy. She was staying with Runo, and Marucho was having all the rooms in his mansion renovated before Christmas.

"Well, Alice, I'm sure I can find somewhere you can stay." Marucho proclaimed calmly. "I have a number of associates, whom I am quite sure would be quite agreeable to let you stay—"

"She can stay with me." Shun said, interrupting Marucho's rambling. His voice held a tinge of annoyance, and he didn't look up from his book.

Everyone stared at him, stunned.

"What?" The Ventus Brawler glanced up from his book when his offer was met with silence.

Alice finally spoke up. "Are you sure that's okay?"

"Would I offer it wasn't?" Shun pointed out.

"Well, okay, thanks."

"I was gonna go home now anyway. Dan was giving me a headache by nagging me about coming to that stupid Christmas party—"

"Hey!" Dan interjected, furious. "It is _not _gonna be stupid!"

"—which I was going to go to anyway, and Grandpa wants me to do _training_."

"I should probably come with you. I'm not very sure about the way to you house."

"You get your stuff and I'll meet you outside."

"Sure! See you guys tomorrow!" Alice smiled around at everyone, and left.

"Just admit it, Shun," Dan taunted as the black-headed boy picked up his book.

"Admit what?"

"You and Alice have been dating secretly, long-distance, haven't you?"

That comment earned the Pyrus Brawler a punch in the head.

**99999**

"Come on, Shun, faster. If you want to be a _good _ninja warrior, you're going to have to be swifter than that!"

Alice watched in utter amazement as Shun performed the deeds his grandfather commanded. He would dodge, block, punch and kick the training dummy without getting hurt even once.

"I don't want to be a ninja warrior…" Shun muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" his grandfather barked.

"I said, I don't want to be a ninja warrior."

"Well, then, what do you want to be?"

"I want to go to university, and get a good profession!"

"Hmph!" The elderly man turned away from his grandson, looking over to his orange-haired, wide-eyed and gaping guest. He man smiled, noting Alice's look of awe. "Shun, you can take a break if you like."

"Grandpa, are you feeling okay?" Shun looked at his grandfather, incredulous, thinking the elderly man must have a fever.

Shun's grandpa shook his head. "When I offer you a break, you think I'm crazy; when I don't…" He wandered back into the house, still shaking his head and muttering.

Shun walked over to where Alice sat on the dojo's steps. She gazed at him in wonder as he sat down beside her.

"What?" the black-headed boy asked, slightly uncomfortable under Alice's admiring stare.

"How did you do that?" she asked, her voice quiet and marveling.

"How did I do what? Attack the dummy?" Shun clarified, and Alice nodded. "Practice. Grandpa's made me do that sort of stuff since I was six."

"Eleven years? You've done that for _eleven years_?"

Shun shrugged. "It's easy. Like I said, practice."

Alice sighed, resting her hand on her chin. "You must have been patient to go through with it after so long."

Again, Shun shrugged casually. "You get used to it. The attacking, the yells of 'faster'…" He rolled his eyes, again irritated. "The joys of being the grandson of a ninja…"

Alice giggled softly, her hair falling across her face and shoulders as she bowed her head slightly. Her eyes were bright with happiness, to simply be with her friend.

Her _friend_…?

To be honest, Alice was starting to wonder: did she maybe like Shun…as more than a friend?

At that thought, her cheeks became a pale pink, and ducked her head even further, praying the boy beside her wouldn't notice.

Luckily for the Russian girl, Shun was too engrossed in his own thoughts. As he glanced at the girl by his side, her face hidden from his golden-eyed stared by her sunset hair, he wondered.

He'd always liked Alice that tiny bit more than the other girls. But after so long, after keeping his feelings hidden, he wasn't sure she'd like him back, at least in that way.

They glanced up at each other at the same moment, and both looked away, blushing.

"Shun! Alice!" Shun's grandfather's voice came from inside the house. "Lunch is ready!"

Shun leapt to his feet, mentally thanking his grandfather for, once, helping him in a way he appreciated.

"Come on," he said, helping the girl to her feet. "I'll show you the way."

**99999**

It was Christmas, and Shun and Alice were both standing outside Dan's house, presents in their arms and grins plastered across their faces as they waited to be let in. Well, Alice's face anyway. Shun just looked bored.

It was Marucho who opened the door. He looked anxious, but that expression turned to one of relief as he saw the pair.

"Good, you're here!" he exclaimed, pulling them by their wrists into the sitting room. "Now maybe you can convince Runo to spare Dan…"

Sure enough, Runo was holding what looked like a magazine, towering over the cowering, cornered brunette, who was trying to apologize.

"I was just trying to say I liked you outfit!" he whimpered, arms over his head in an attempt to protect himself.

"A bit of advice for you, Dan." Julie, who seated on the couch, eating a shortbread biscuit, barely glanced at the boy. "When complimenting a girl, never phrase it as something that can be taken as both a compliment _and_ an insult."

"What exactly did he say?" Alice questioned, looking concerned.

"'You look nice today, Runo'." Marucho replied with a roll of his eyes. "And her reply was 'Meaning I didn't look nice yesterday?'"

Shun sighed. "Idiot."

Alice ran over to Runo, tugging the magazine out of her grasp and trying to placate her. "Come on, Runo, you know he didn't mean it like that."

Runo huffed, deciding to ignore Dan and instead hugged her friend in greeting. "Fine."

As the blue-haired girl walked over to talk to Julie, Alice turned to Dan, who had stood up, and told him, "You should know better than to compliment her like that."

"It's not—!" Alice gave him a stern look, and Dan immediately shut up. "I'll go apologize."

He moved over to his still-fuming girlfriend, making a dramatic show of kneeling in front of her and clasping his hands, begging forgiveness. Runo forgave him with half a laugh at his antics and a whack on the shoulder.

"Let's get this party started then!" Dan stood up, a wide grin on his face as he beckoned them into the kitchen.

**99999**

Shun stood in the open doorway of Dan's bedroom, eyes closed, arms folded, and leaning against one side of the doorway.

"Why are you up here? All by yourself?"

Shun opened his eyes lazily and the soft voice and focused his gaze on Alice, who now stood at the top of the once-empty staircase. She looked confused.

Shun sighed. "They got annoying."

"Oh." Alice frowned a little. "Well, you shouldn't be on your own on Christmas. Do you want me to stay up here with you?"

Shun scrutinized the girl with narrowed eyes until she began to feel quite uncomfortable. "What?"

Again, Shun let out a breath. "Sure." Then he added, "As long as you don't go all loud on me."

Alice smiled. "Okay, but just a minute, I'll go get us some shortbread biscuits. I didn't see you eat much at lunch."

Before Shun could say anything, she'd already gone again. He pinched the bridge of his nose, grinning slightly at her enthusiasm.

Alice was back within moments, handing him two biscuits, nibbling on her own delicately as she sat down opposite Shun, her back resting against the frame of the large doorway. She looked up at him, as he was still standing. "So what did you get from the others?"

Shun slid down to sit too before replying. "Marucho gave me a camera and Julie gave me a _pink_"—at this he scowled a little—"jacket that I probably will never wear."

Alice clapped a hand over her mouth over her mouth to stifle the laugh, but nodded at him to continue.

Shun scowled even more. "Dan gave me a shirt that said 'I'm Not Emo, I Just Like Black', and—"

Alice couldn't hold back her giggles that time, and Shun, still with a dark look on his face, allowed her a moment to laugh before cutting through.

"And you and Runo combined to get me that cologne."

"You were so hard to buy for," the Russian girl admitted, looking anxious. "I had no idea what to get, until Runo suggested that we combined and got you that cologne. I hope you like it."

"Yeah, I do," Shun assured her, a small smile crossing his face. "Thanks."

"OH MY GOSH!"

Both winced at the high-pitch of Julie's unexpected squeal. They looked at her.

"What. Do. You. Want. Julie." Shun asked through clenched teeth, noting that all four of them were standing there.

"Look!" Julie raised a trembling hand, her eyes large and shiny. Her finger was directed at the top of the doorway.

Both teenagers looked up; two pairs of eyes widened, and two faces flushed in embarrassment.

Shun tore his gaze away from the plant that hung so innocently above them to look at his friends as they spoke.

"That was meant to be for me and Runo," Dan moaned, leading the way back down the stairs.

Runo shot Alice a glance which was not acknowledged (as Alice seemed to have her eyes glued to the mistletoe) before following her boyfriend down the stairs.

Marucho scoffed and muttered quietly, "As if those two need _mistletoe_ as an excuse to make out…" He too then turned to go back downstairs.

Julie grinned, twirling a lock of hair. "We'll leave you two alone then, I guess," she said coyly. "And you have to kiss, it's _tradition_!" She practically sang the last word before skipping after Marucho.

Shun dragged his gaze back to the girl in front of him. She still hadn't changed position. "Alice?" he questioned. "Uh…" He was at a loss for words, and hoped she'd say something soon.

Alice finally spoke, though it was barely a whisper. "It's…It's tradition, Shun." Her voice was faint.

Shun's eyes widened again. Well, that was just great, now he had no excuse to back out of it. His eyes traced her face, though she'd averted her gaze. His vision finally landed on her lips. Those pink lips he'd longed to kiss for so, _so_ long.

Alice looked up at him this time, and it was Shun who tore his gaze away, embarrassed. Did he have to do this? He wanted to, but he didn't want to, if that even made any sense…

Alice's voice was shaky as she spoke again. "If…If it's because you don't…want to kiss me…that's o—"

She was cut off by a pair of lips against hers. She gasped, freezing in complete shock. Then, ever so slowly, her eyes slid shut.

Shun's warm hands grasped her own, leading them up to his shoulders as he leaned over her cross-legged figure, before returning to cup her own face.

Both pulled away after a moment, breathing heavily as they stared at each other. Alice's hands released Shun's shoulders, expecting him to move away.

Instead, his hands moved down to hers, clasping them tightly as he gazed into her eyes intently. His voice was soft and rough. "Alice…"

She looked at him, curious and slightly confused. "Yes?"

He sighed. "I…I want to kiss you…again."

"What?" She was sure she'd misheard, but added anyway, "Why?"

"I…I like you." He glanced away.

"I like you too, Shun," Alice replied, puzzled.

"Really?" He looked at her again, half-hopeful.

"Yes," Alice assured him. "You are one of my closest friends. I thought you knew that."

Shun groaned, pressing a palm to his face. "No, I mean…I like you in a "more-than-friends" way…" At Alice's expression, he burst out, "Alice, I'm in love with you, okay?"

Alice's mouth opened in shock before it curved into a wide grin, her eyes shining. He felt the same…?

Shun sighed. "Go on; tell me you don't feel the same." His once-open face (at least when he was with her he was like that) had closed off into the stoic, cold expression he wore when he wasn't with his friends.

"How can I tell you I don't if I do?" Alice questioned in return, leaning closer to place her mouth on his.

Shun's eyes slid shut after a moment, smirking into the kiss as he placed his hands on Alice's waist to pull her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

They pulled away from each other again, but this time, Alice's arms stayed around the young man's neck, pulling him into a tug. She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck, eyes shut in happiness.

Shun, meanwhile, tightened his hold on his (hopefully, soon-to-be) girlfriend, glancing up at thinking three words he'd been sure he'd never think.

_Thank you, mistletoe._

**Thanks, those who read it, and please REVIEW! They mean a lot to me, especially on Christmas! You wouldn't neglect me on Christmas, right?**

**I also wanna apologize if any of the characters seemed OOC, because I haven't watched any episodes for **_**ages**_**. I don't like any of the new ones, no offence to anyone who does. And I also wanna apologize for any incorrect facts (ages, appearance, etc), but I hope you still like it!**

**I'm babbling now…**

**PLEASE DON'T FAVOURITE WITHOUT REVIEWING!**

**AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AGAIN!**

**I Like Writing Romance**


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